SCENE SETTER
• The Washburn Ichabod football returns to Yager Stadium for the first time since Sept. 27 when they will host Central Missouri on Saturday at 2 p.m. as part of Washburn Athletics Hall of Fame Day.
• The Ichabods are 1-5 this season looking for their first conference win of the season after falling 34-10 to No. 15-ranked Pittsburg State last time out.
• The Mules are 3-3 overall and 3-1 in MIAA play after falling 49-32 to Northwest Missouri.
 
BOD NOTES
• J.C. Heim leads the MIAA and the nation in tackles per game with 13.3 per contest and L.J. Minner, Jr.  is third with 10.2 tackles per game ranking 14th in the NCAA D2 national rankings.
• Jordan Finnesy's 230 career tackles is 17th on the NCAA D2 active chart and he is 17th on the D2 active solo tackles chart with 139.
• Jake Zeller is fifth on the NCAA D2 active punting average chart at 41.9 and he is seventh in total punt yards (6,031) …Zeller is second in the MIAA and ninth in the national rankings in punting average at 43.1 ypg … Zeller is second on the Ichabod all-time punting average chart at 41.88 and ninth in total yards at 6,031.
• Chase Allen-Jackman's six touchdown receptions is second in the MIAA.
• The Ichabod defense leads the MIAA in opponent third down conversion rate at 27 percent which is also ranked 16th in the nation.
• Last Saturday's game against Pitt State marked the second season in a row against the Ichabods were flagged at least 10 times … in last season's game, the Ichabods were whistled 12 times.
• Last time out, the 34-10 win by the Gorillas was not an Ichabod football Scorigami as the score had happed one other time before … through 1,245 Ichabod games, there have been 298 games in which a score has happened only one time. In all, there have been 525 unique scoring games.
• Former Ichabod placekicker Steve Ivanisevic (2009-10) is going into the Washburn Athletic Hall of Fame on Saturday. Ivanisevic was a 2010 American Football Coaches Association All-America Team selection and he earned unanimous first team all-MIAA honors and second team Daktronics All-American honors along with first team Daktronics all-region honors in 2010. He was also the MIAA's Special Teams Player of the Year after leading the MIAA in field goal percentage hitting 16 of 18 attempts including a season-high 49 yard attempt and he connected on all 50 of his extra point attempts. He will be joined by Jenna Hatlestad (women's soccer), Matt Warnock (golf), current Ichabod volleyball coach Chris Herron and Herron's 2007 Washburn volleyball team.
 
PRO BODS
• The Washburn Ichabods have two former players on NFL rosters this season and one in the Canadian Football League.
• Kyle Hinton is on the 53-man roster of the Atlanta Falcons.
• Corey Ballentine is on the practice squad roster in Dallas.
• James Letcher, Jr. is a standout return specialist and wide receiver  in the Canadian Football League playing for the Montreal Alouettes in his second season in the CFL.
 
COACHES
Washburn head coach Zach Watkins . . .
• is 1-5 in his first season as the Ichabod head coach.
• named the 38th head coach in Washburn program history on Nov. 26, 2024.
• first Ichabod alumnus to lead the program in more than 30 years.
• spent 11 seasons as Washburn's co-defensive coordinator before becoming head coach
• four-year starter at linebacker for Washburn (2006–09).
• recorded 100+ tackles each season, finishing with a school-record 473 career tackles (third all-time in NCAA Division II at the time).
• the 2006 MIAA Freshman of the Year, 2006 Honorable Mention All-MIAA and Second Team All-Region, First Team All-MIAA (2007–09), 2009 MIAA & Daktronics Regional Defensive Player of the Year, 2009 AFCA First Team All-America and Daktronics Second Team All-America, Three-time Academic All-MIAA, Three-time MIAA Scholar Athlete, 2008 ESPN The Magazine / CoSIDA Academic All-American, 2010 Ken B. Jones MIAA Student-Athlete of the Year finalist, Three-time All-American by Don Hansen's Football Gazette.
• bachelor's degree in Finance and Business Management, Washburn University (2009).
• master's degree in Sports Administration, Fort Hays State (2013).
• married to Amanda; two children, Parker and Naomi.
• is 0-0 against Central Missouri.
 
Central Missouri head coach Josh Lamberson. . .         
•  is in his fourth season on the Mule sidelines going 27-15 at UCM and has a 28-36 overall coaching record in season number six.
• named the 30th head football coach of the Mules football program in February 2022.
• served as the offensive coordinator and recruiting coordinator for the Mules from 2010-14 under former UCM head coach Jim Svoboda, after serving as the associate head coach, offensive coordinator, and quarterbacks coach for Division I Abilene Christian University from 2017-21.
• before Abilene Christian, he served as the head coach at MIAA member Nebraska Kearney from 2015-17.
• was an All-American quarterback helping Northwest Missouri to the 2005 NCAA Division II national championship game. He was named the MVP of the 2005 national title game and posted an overall record of 25-6 as the Bearcats' starting quarterback
• is 2-3 against Washburn going 0-2 at Nebraska-Kearney and 2-1 at Central Missouri.
 
 NOTING THE MULES
• The Mules are 3-3 overall and 3-1 after losing their first MIAA game of the season in a 49-32 loss to Northwest Missouri at home last time out.
• UCM quarterback Donovyn Omolo is second in the MIAA passing for 279.2 yards per game with six touchdowns completing 58 percent of his passes.
• Hogan Wasson is the only MIAA receiver averaging more than 100 yards per game at 102.3 with 47 catches for 614 yards and three scores averaging 13.1 yards per catch.
• Latravious Boyd is 12th in the MIAA and leads the Mules with 49.6 yards per game on the ground.
• Garrett Hormann leads the Mules' defensive unit with 50 total tackles which is fourth in the league.
• The Mules have the highest scoring offense in the MIAA at 35.0 ppg and their defense is ranked seventh allowing 29.8 ppg.
• The Mules are averaging 476.7 yards per game sitting on top of the MIAA and their defense is ninth in the MIAA allowing an average of 431.2 yards per contest.
 
 LAST MEETING WITH THE MULES
(Sept. 21, 2024) WARRENSBURG, Mo. – The Washburn Ichabod football team had three turnovers in its final three drives of the game as the Ichabods came up on the short end of and back-and-forth contest in a 31-28 loss at Central Missouri on Saturday afternoon. 
After winning the toss to start the game, the Ichabods deferred and Central Missouri drove 75-yards on 12 plays using 3:43 off the clock converting five first downs in the process taking a 7-0 lead.
The Ichabods (2-6, 2-5 MIAA) came right back on their first drive of the game, Washburn responded with a 12-play, 91-yard drive capped by a Sam Van Dyne to Maury Sullivan 23-yard score knotting the game at 7-7.
Neither team scored the remainder of the half, but Central Missouri (5-3, 3-3 MIAA) scored on the first play of the second quarter on a 2-yard run by Zach Zebrowski as the Mules took a 14-7 lead.
Washburn's next drive came up empty after a 87-yard touchdown pass from Van Dyne to Tre Richardson was pulled off the board after a penalty setting up the Ichabods' first punt of the game.
Washburn's defense forced a punt on the Mules' next drive tying the score at 14 using another long drive – this time a 14-play, 80-yard drive using 7:26 off the clock, when Keller Hurla scored on a 1-yard Ichabod push with 7:26 remaining in the half.
UCM wrapped up the first half scoring with a 44-yard field goal by Brett Grupe holding the Mules who had a first and 10 from the 10 and after back to back sacks by L.J. Minner, Jr. and Justice Akinmoladun set up the long field goal.
On the second half's opening drive, Washburn marched 75 yards, needing 12 plays and taking a 21-17 lead with 10:36 to play when Van Dyne connected with Richardson on a 22-yard touchdown pass.
The Mules came back with a touchdown drive of their own on an 8-play, 75-yard drive retaking the lead a 24-21 when Zebrowski hit Jack Pospisil on a 21-yard touchdown pass for his second touchdown grab of the season.
Starting their fifth drive inside their own 20 in the game, the Ichabods jumped back in front of the Mules after an 87-yard touchdown pass from Van Dyne to Richardson capping a 3-play drive with 5:12 to go in the third quarter.
On the first play of the fourth quarter, the Mules regained the lead when backup defensive lineman Weston King scored a big man touchdown from 1-yard out as the Mules went back in front at 31-28.
Washburn then suffered its first turnover of the game after a 78-yard drive down to the UCM 5-yard line that the Mules recovered with 8:25 to play. However the Ichabod defense forced the Mules into another punt after three plays as the Ichabods took over and their own 39 with 6:52 to go. The Ichabods the drove down to the UCM 39, but the Mules picked off a pass intended for Richardson at its 7-yard line with 3:24 remaining.
 Again, the Ichabod defense came back forcing the Mules into a punting situation after allowing one first down and the Ichabods took over at its own 33 with 54 seconds to go.
Washburn then had a short pass play, a sack and its third turnover of the game with one second left on an interception as the Mules took one kneel down ending the game.
Richardson finished with 229 receiving yards on 11 catches with 172 yards after the catch as he averaged 20.8 yards per catch not counting the 87-receiving yard touchdown pass that was called back with an Ichabod penalty. Richardson's 229 receiving yards is third on the Ichabod single-game chart trailing only Sam Sissom's 231 yards against Colorado Mines in 2005 and Troy Slusser's 252 yards against Emporia State in 1988.
Sullivan had six catches for 53 yards and one score. Tyler Bowden had 10 carries for 33 yards.
Van Dyne was 18 for 23 for 330 yards completing 78 percent of his passes with three touchdowns.
Jordan Finnesy had a career-high 16 tackles with 11 solo stops to lead the Ichabod defense. J.C. Heim had a career-high 10 tackles of his own. 
The Ichabods had a season-high 452 yards of total offense (coming off last week's season-high of 441 yards against Missouri Southern) compared to 389 for the Mules as the Ichabods tallied 350 passing yards. The Mules came into the game averaging more than 500 yards a game.
 
 SERIES HISTORY WITH THE MULES
• the Mules lead the all-time series 30-21-2 over the Ichabods in 53 all-time meetings.
• Washburn is 8-16 in games played in Warrensburg and snapped a five-game losing streak in the 2022 meeting and 13-14-2 in games played in Topeka.
• the Ichabods are 14-24-1 in MIAA games with the Mules.
• the largest win over the Mules by the Ichabods was a 34-0 win on Sept. 29, 1963.
• Washburn is 3-7 in the last 10 match-ups with the Mules.
   
 LAST TIME OUT FOR THE ICHABODS
(Oct. 11, 2025) PITTSBURG, Kan. — The Washburn Ichabod football dropped their fifth game in a row as the Ichabods fell 34–10 to No. 15-ranked Pittsburg State on Saturday afternoon at Carnie Smith Stadium.
The Gorillas (5–2, 4–1 MIAA) struck first midway through the opening quarter with a 42-yard field goal before adding a 17-yard touchdown run by quarterback Jackson Berry to go ahead 10–0. Washburn (1–5, 0–4 MIAA) answered early in the second quarter when Logan Madden engineered a 10-play, 75-yard scoring drive. Madden hit Ky Thomas on an 8-yard swing pass to cap the march, trimming the Gorilla lead to 10-7.
Pittsburg State countered immediately with a 75-yard drive of its own, ending in Berry's second rushing touchdown from 19 yards out. After forcing a Washburn punt late in the half, the Gorillas extended the margin when Berry connected with Jaelon Travis for a 73-yard score with six seconds left before intermission, pushing the lead to 24–7 heading into the break.
Washburn's defense stiffened in the second half, forcing a turnover and limiting PSU to a pair of field goals and a late short touchdown. The Ichabods turned a recovered Gorilla fumble into a 34-yard Battle field goal early in the fourth quarter to make it 24–10, but the hosts pulled away down the stretch.
The Ichabods were limited with time of possession in the game  (21:16 to PSU's 38:44).
Madden completed 14 of 28 passes for 142 yards and one touchdown. Thomas caught four passes for 26 yards and a score, while D.J. Bell added five catches for 31 yards and 39 return yards for a team-high 84 all-purpose yards. Chase Allen-Jackman provided the game's longest Washburn play with a 40-yard reception in the first quarter.
Defensively, linebacker J.C. Heim paced the Ichabods with 12 total tackles, while L.J. Minner Jr. added 10 stops. Defensive end Elijah Clarke-Boyd contributed 1.5 sacks as Washburn recorded two total on the day.
Pittsburg State finished with 481 total yards to Washburn's 170, powered by a 260–26 advantage on the ground. Berry threw for 221 yards and rushed for 29 more with three total touchdowns. Washburn punter Jake Zeller was again strong, averaging 47.5 yards on six punts with three pinned inside the 20.
The Ichabods who were top-five in the nation in least penalty yards and least penalties called against, were flagged for 108 yards and 10 calls. The Gorillas were called for 12 flags for 143 yards.
 
 A WIN OVER THE MULES WOULD
• move the Ichabods' record to 2-5 on the season.
• snap a two-game losing streak to the Mules.
• even the Ichabods' home record against the Mules to 14-14-2 all-time.
• move the Ichabods to 22-30-2 all-time against the Mules.
 
  A LOSS TO THE MULES WOULD
• drop the Ichabods to 1-6 on the season.
• be the Ichabods' sixth loss overall in a row.
• drop the Ichabods to 21-31-2 all-time against the Mules.
• be the Mules' third-straight win over the Ichabods and second in a row in Topeka.
 
 ICHABOD FOOTBALL HISTORY
• Washburn is 582-619-44 (.484) in the 135th year of Ichabod football.
• The Ichabods are 15th in NCAA Division II history in wins.
• The Ichabods have 12 conference titles with the last coming in 2005 in the MIAA.
• Washburn has had 177 all-MIAA picks and 62 first team all-MIAA selections.
• Washburn has had 97 overall All-American selections and 73 individual All-American picks since joining the NCAA Division II ranks in 1989.
• Washburn has made 14 postseason appearances including bowl games and tournament games going 5-2 in a bowl games.
• Seven Ichabods have been picked in the NFL Draft.
 
 UP NEXT
The Ichabods will be back in action next week in Yager Stadium celebrating Homecoming hosting Fort Hays State at 1 p.m. on Oct. 25.